This invention relates to a device for holding soda or beer cans or the like.
The beer can and soda can are a fixture on the American scene. These metal, typically 12 ounce metal cans, with the pull tab are seen and used everywhere; at home, at work, at sporting events, picnics and parties. The beverage contained in these cans are usually drunk cold and for this reason the cans are kept in a refrigerator or refrigerated unit or on ice. Upon removal from the refrigerated unit the can and beverage are exposed to a warmer temperature which, over time, may warm the beverage, for example beer or soda, to a point where the beverage is less enjoyable to the drinker than when cold. Also, the cans tend to be wet on the outside because of condensation or water from melting ice if the cans have been iced. This makes the cans slippery to hold and may also require the drinker to keep drying his hands every time after he sets the can down.
Insulated sleeves are known in the prior art formed from foam, rubber or the like but such sleeves offer only limited insulation protection. Also known are covered containers such as that shown in U.S. Pat No. 3,120,319 but such containers are provided with a screw-on cap which cannot readily be removed without using two hands. Insulated lined pitchers are also known such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,094,448 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,568 but these units are intended to receive liquid directly and not to provide a receptacle for a can.
The present invention overcomes these and other problems in a manner not disclosed in the known prior art.